Ms. Zamageda Zungu | Management | Best Researcher Award

Ms. Zamageda Zungu | Management | Best Researcher Award

Ms. Zamageda Zungu | Management – Lecturer at University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa

Ms. Zamageda Zungu is a dynamic academic and research leader in the field of construction management, known for her expertise in sustainable development, organizational resilience, and education reform in the built environment sector. She is currently a lecturer at the University of the Witwatersrand and a member of the CIDB Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Construction Industry Growth. Ms. Zungu combines a passion for innovative research with a strong commitment to teaching excellence and student mentorship, making her a notable figure in academia and industry collaboration.

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Education:

Ms. Zungu holds an MSc in Building (Construction Project Management) and a BSc (Hons) in Quantity Surveying from the University of the Witwatersrand. Her postgraduate thesis focused on knowledge sharing practices among South African construction project managers. She also completed a BCom Law degree with a major in Business Management from the University of South Africa. These multidisciplinary academic qualifications have provided her with a balanced understanding of both the technical and legal dimensions of the construction industry.

Experience:

With over seven years in academia, Ms. Zungu has progressed from Associate Lecturer to full Lecturer, actively contributing to course development, supervision, and industry-aligned curriculum design. She leads both undergraduate and postgraduate modules and has been instrumental in modernizing program structures to align with university policies and reduce student completion times. She plays a pivotal role in committees related to academic governance and curriculum transformation, while also engaging with national and international bodies on sustainable construction initiatives.

Research Interests:

Ms. Zungu’s research interests focus on sustainability, construction project management, organizational resilience, equitable risk distribution, contractor development, and the alignment of construction education with industry needs. Her work often explores how construction firms and educational institutions can become more resilient, inclusive, and responsive to socio-economic and environmental changes. She has supervised and converted several undergraduate and postgraduate research projects into academic conference presentations, reflecting her skill in guiding impactful research.

Awards:

Ms. Zungu has earned several prestigious recognitions that demonstrate her excellence across research and teaching. These include the Best Paper Presentation Award at the EPPM 2023 Conference and Best Second Year Lecturer awards for two consecutive years (2023 and 2024). She has also successfully secured various research grants, including NRF Research Development, Carnegie Doctoral Grant, and internal university funding, which have supported her continued academic contributions and student mentorship.

Selected Publications:

📘 “A critical literature review on organizational resilience: why current frameworks are insufficient for contracting firms in the construction industry” (2025), International Journal of Construction Management – [Cited by 6 articles]

🏗️ “Client and Contractor Experiences in Framework Construction Agreements in South Africa” (2025), ICE Proceedings: Management, Procurement and Law – [Cited by 4 articles]

🏢 “Methods used by clients to determine contingency sums for construction projects in the Middle East” (2025), ICE Proceedings: Management, Procurement and Law – [Cited by 5 articles]

🌍 “Building Organizational Resilience Capacities and Capabilities in Construction Firms” (2024), Springer: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering – [Cited by 7 articles]

🛠️ “Detecting and preventing unbalanced bidding in South African public sector construction” (2024), WABER-SuDBE Conference Proceedings – [Cited by 3 articles]

🔍 “Equitable Risk Sharing in South African Construction Projects during Exceptional International Events” (2023), ASOCSA Conference Proceedings – [Cited by 4 articles]

📚 “Factors Constraining Effective Knowledge Sharing among Construction Project Managers in South Africa” (2019), CIB World Building Congress – [Cited by 9 articles]

Conclusion:

Ms. Zamageda Zungu represents a powerful blend of research innovation, teaching excellence, and community impact. Her ability to translate academic work into industry-relevant solutions, secure competitive research funding, and mentor future construction professionals reflects her outstanding capability and commitment. With a proven record of research productivity, academic leadership, and national influence, she is a highly deserving nominee for the Best Researcher Award. Her evolving contributions will undoubtedly continue to enrich the field of construction management both within South Africa and internationally.

 

 

 

Dr. Wenxin Xie | Organizational behavior | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Wenxin Xie | Organizational behavior | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Wenxin Xie | Organizational behavior – Assistant Professor at Shanghaitech University, China

Dr. Wen-Xin Xie is a rising academic star in the field of Organizational Behavior, with a distinct research focus on creativity, team dynamics, and leadership structures. Currently serving as an Assistant Professor at ShanghaiTech University’s School of Entrepreneurship and Management, she has demonstrated exceptional academic productivity, pedagogical excellence, and a forward-thinking approach to human-AI collaboration. With a global academic background and active participation in leading international conferences, Dr. Xie brings a well-rounded, interdisciplinary, and innovative perspective to her research and teaching. Her work is widely respected and continues to shape the conversation in her fields of study.

Profile:

Google Scholar

Education:

Dr. Xie’s educational path reflects her dedication to academic excellence and international engagement. She earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from University College London, where she trained under esteemed scholars Colin Fisher and Sarah Harvey. Before this, she completed both her M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Business Administration from Zhejiang University, one of China’s most prestigious institutions. She also participated in a distinguished international exchange program at Erasmus University of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, further enriching her research with cross-cultural academic insights.

Experience:

Dr. Xie has served as an Assistant Professor at ShanghaiTech University since 2021, where she teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses on Innovation Science, Design Thinking, and Leadership. Her teaching evaluations are consistently excellent, often exceeding 4.75/5, and she is known for engaging, research-integrated instruction. Prior to this, she was a seminar instructor and guest lecturer at University College London, where she was nominated for the Brilliant Research-based Teaching Award. In addition to her teaching, Dr. Xie plays a vital role in the global research community through active participation in conferences, symposia, and peer reviewing.

Research Interests:

Dr. Xie’s research spans several critical and timely domains within organizational behavior. Her primary interests include team creativity, creative processes, and the cognitive mechanisms underlying innovation. She is particularly interested in how leadership structures—both traditional and shared—interact with environmental uncertainty to shape team dynamics and creative output. Recently, she has expanded her work to explore the integration of artificial intelligence in ideation processes, examining how digital tools influence creativity, ownership perception, and innovation quality. Her interdisciplinary perspective fuses psychology, leadership theory, and technology in compelling ways.

Awards:

Dr. Xie has earned numerous accolades that reflect her academic impact and leadership potential. Among the most notable is the Shanghai Magnolia Talent Award (2022), a top distinction granted to outstanding talents in academia. She was a Best Paper Finalist in the MOC Division at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting (2018), and she co-chaired a Showcase Symposium across three major divisions (MOC, OB, OMT) in 2019. She was also nominated for the Student Choice Awards for Research-based Teaching at UCL and selected for the OB Doctoral Consortium at the Academy of Management. These honors underscore her excellence in both research and teaching.

Publications:

Here are seven selected publications that demonstrate Dr. Xie’s scholarly reach and relevance:

  1. 📘 Xie & Fisher (2024) – European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology
    “How shared leadership and task complexity shape expectations of team effectiveness.”
    ▶️ Illuminates how leadership dynamics influence team performance under pressure.
  2. 🎨 Fisher et al., incl. Xie (2021) – Creative Success in Teams (Academic Press)
    “How crediting authorship affects creativity evaluations.”
    ▶️ Highlights the psychological impact of team crediting on creative judgment.
  3. 🔄 Xie (2019) – Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings
    “Leadership attributions: The role of uncertainty and communal schemas.”
    ▶️ Breaks new ground on how ambiguity shapes leadership perception in teams.
  4. 🧠 Harvey, Kou & Xie (2019) – Creative Leadership: Contexts and Prospects (Routledge)
    “Leading for creative synthesis: A process-based model for creative leadership.”
    ▶️ A go-to reference for scholars exploring leadership as a creative enabler.
  5. 🔍 Xie, Yang & Zhou (2015) – Science of Science and Management of S&T
    “Overqualification and job crafting behavior: The role of resilience.”
    ▶️ Explores how excess talent and psychological resilience drive innovation.
  6. 🤖 Xie & Wang (in preparation) – Working Paper
    “AI-assisted idea generation: Ownership perception and idea overevaluation.”
    ▶️ A timely piece exploring biases in AI-enhanced creativity.
  7. 🌐 Xie et al. (under review) – Strategic Management Journal
    “How uncertainty dynamics shape support for novel ideas in diverse teams.”
    ▶️ Offers strategic insight into diversity, uncertainty, and innovation.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, Dr. Wen-Xin Xie stands out as a researcher who seamlessly integrates empirical rigor with conceptual innovation. Her work pushes the boundaries of how we understand creativity, team collaboration, and leadership in dynamic and technologically evolving environments. She has not only demonstrated academic excellence through her research and awards but also enriched the learning experiences of students through high-quality teaching. Given her accomplishments, commitment to scholarly advancement, and growing influence in her field, Dr. Xie is a highly deserving candidate for the Best Researcher Award.